Eleven days have passed since I ended the Sjælland part of my Danish pilgrimage in Rødbyhavn. The three next days I planned to walk across Fyn, followed by two day on Jylland, walking from east to west. Today I walked 46,5 kms, starting in Nyborg and ending in Odense, Fyn’s largest city. It was partly along roads, but also a number of paths, and not least the last kilometers along Odense Å (river) in beautiful sunny weather, were a perfect end to a long day’s walking.
I left Copenhagen on an early train and arrived in Nyborg an hour later, after crossing the bridge and tunnel between Sjælland and Fyn. Nyborg church and castle are the most famous sites, but the town center, surrounded by a moat and with the castle fortifications, lake and park seemed very pleasant, even if the route didn’t pass directly through the town center.
I left Nyborg via the Marina, which was very quiet for a Saturday morning and walked along Vindinge Å towards the picturesque village of Vindinge.
Mostly along roads I continued to Ellinge, passing its stone and white painted church, flanked by cabbage fields.
The rain started as I left Ellinge towards Rolfsted and Davinde. Davinde is an area that has been transformed from gravel pits to fresh water lakes, in the midst of beautiful nature. I ate lunch on a bench donated by a Dane from nearby Hudevad, who lived in England – the lake was the view from the bench.
The area was more or less deserted, which seamed a great pity given its natural beauty and good paths.
After Davinde, I continued towards Fraugde, mainly along roads, crossing the east-west motorway.
I walked to the south eastern outskirts of Odense before entering Kohaveskov (Cow garden forest!), the start of what turned out to be a very pleasant walk into Odense.
I walked along Odense Å (river) towards Odense, passing the Botanical gardens, which must have had some event, as there were many people heading to the gardens – it was getting on for 6pm, but it was a lot warmer than it had been earlier in the day. Odense Å is Fyns longest river and famous for a song sung when the Danish national football team play – vi sejler op ad åen (we are sailing up river).
I was staying at a hotel next to the station, but got lost in downtown Odense before finding it. I ate pizza for dinner. I was tired and my feet were sore after walking so far, largely along paths. Not a good sign for the coming days.